Over 700 police personnel undergoing quarantine after Sabah election

KUANTAN: More than 700 police personnel are currently undergoing quarantine after being 'flown' to Sabah to assist in operations during the state election.

Bukit Aman Management Department director Datuk Ramli Din said of the total, more than 200 staff from the Peninsula were currently housed in a hotel gazetted as a quarantine centre by the National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA) while the rest from Sarawak have been instructed to undergo quarantine at a training centre in the state.

“We started sending manpower to Sabah in stages before the nomination day (Sept 12) and the number of personnel needed increased by polling day as existing members there needed to be quarantined.

“Those who are undergoing quarantine are now waiting for the results of the screening tests and have not been allowed to return home to prevent the risk of infection,” he said.

Ramli told this to reporters after attending the Royal Malaysia Police Innovation Day 2020 celebration at the Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Broadcasting Complex here today, which was officiated by the Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador.

Also present were Pahang police chief Datuk Abd Jalil Hassan and Johor police chief Datuk Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay.

Ramli said although the number of those having to undergo quarantine was rather large, it does not affect the course or the police operation in the state.

Asked about the readiness of the police force if the government wants to re-implement the Movement Control Order (MCO) due to the increase in positive COVID-19 cases after the Sabah state election, Ramli said they would have no difficulty because of the experience from the previous MCO.

Commenting on the Innovation Day, Ramli said for this year they received 35 entries involving new inventions or innovations on existing facilities that can help facilitate or improve the performance of police in enforcing the law.

He also said that each design and innovation must pass SIRIM standards before it can be developed for internal use by the police, besides there are some products which receive ‘applications’ from the private sector to be developed.

-- BERNAMA